Jim Ellis Chevrolet Atlanta

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Driving Impressions

While big inside, the Tahoe doesn't feel as big on the road as full-size GM SUVs have felt in the past.

The Tahoe uses a coil-over front suspension and a five-link rear suspension that combine to offer decent handling and a supple ride. It is available with the standard (ZW7) Smooth Ride suspension, or with GM's Autoride (Z55) air suspension providing real-time dampening on the LTZ. A special off-road (Z71) suspension package is also offered. The Z71 suspension tends to make the Tahoe bound over bumps. We couldn't detect much of a difference with the Autoride suspension, but the rear load leveling is a great feature for towing.

We prefer the 17-inch wheels over the 20-inch wheels. The ride was comfortable but not at all soft or spongy with the taller tires on the 17-inch wheels. The 20-inch wheels might look nice, but they come with tires with nearly three inches less sidewall area and thus provide much less cushion for absorbing bumps along the way. We recommend you try the 20s before you buy.

The strong frame, wide track, coil-over-shock front suspension and multi-link live axle rear suspension combine to make the vehicle handle well for a large SUV. Still, the Tahoe's large size makes it prone to body lean in turns and slow reactions in quick changes of direction. While the Tahoe's steering is somewhat slow, it feels more direct and precise than it has in the past. That's thanks to the rack-and-pinion steering system, with its rack mounted on an engine cross member. The turning circle is also pleasantly tight for such a large vehicle. All Tahoes have four-wheel disc brakes. The brake pedal has a good feel, and the brakes work quickly and confidently.

We drove a Tahoe LT-3 4WD and found the 5.3-liter is a good engine that moves the Tahoe well around town. It has enough grunt to tow up to 8200 pounds, but we would have preferred more than four gears in the transmission, especially when climbing some long mountain grades northwest of Phoenix. We liked the fact that we couldn't feel the transitions when the Active Fuel Management shut off or turned back on four cylinders as needed during highway cruising. The system even works in normal city driving, though the only way we could tell was to see the indicator lights change on the driver information panel on the dashboard.

We drove on regular gasoline, but a flexible-fuel version of the Vortec 5300 is available that operates on either gasoline or on E85 ethanol fuel. Note, however, that fuel economy suffers by as much as 25 percent when E85 is used. Both versions of the Vortec 5300 meet GM's 200,000-mile durability requirements. With four-wheel drive, the 5.3-liter V8 is EPA-rated at 14 mpg in the City, 19 mpg on the Highway.

We drove the Hybrid model and found the two-mode hybrid system worked seamlessly. The system uses two electric motors in GM's new Electrically Variable Transmission (EVT) that has four fixed gears. The EVT is mated to a 6.0-liter V8 that also has Active Fuel Management. Total output is 332 horsepower and 367 pound-feet of torque. One of the motors aids power at low speeds and the other lends a hand at highway speeds. Under light throttle, the electric motor can propel the Tahoe up to 30 mph. With heavier throttle, the gasoline engine starts up smoothly, with only a little shudder. Like other systems, the gasoline engine turns off at stoplights and restarts as soon as it's needed.

The Hybrid's fuel economy makes the almost three-ton Tahoe as fuel efficient as a typical sedan. With 2WD, the Tahoe Hybrid is EPA-rated at 21 mpg in the City and 22 on the Highway. With 4WD, it gets 20/20 mpg City/Highway. While the Hybrid has considerably less towing capacity at 6000 pounds with 4WD and 6200 pounds with 2WD, that's still enough for many towing needs.

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